Solution to Beverage Blunders

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Answer: MILO READY-TO-DRINK

by Jenna Himawan

This puzzle contains some clues, followed by some images.

We can start out by identifying the images at the bottom of the puzzle. Each is a drawing of a container of some brand of beverage. The colors and shape of the containers are probably most useful here, but the sizes of the containers relative to each other are also approximately correct.

Mountain Dew Swiss Miss Propel Kool-Aid Ocean Spray Pepsi Tropicana Gatorade SunnyD TruMoo Orangina Minute Maid Canada Dry Ovaltine CapriSun Nesquik

However, we still haven’t figured out what to do about the clues up top. The flavortext tells us that we “wanted drinks” but got something else instead, and we might also notice that the number of clues is equal to the number of drawings. Perhaps each one of the clues on top corresponds to one of the pictures at the bottom?

In fact, these clues are all a single letter substitution away from the name of a drink (listed in alphabetical order).

ClueClue AnswerCorresponding Drink
Product containing 38 million people; some assembly requiredCANADA DIYCANADA DRY
A moderately large car with four-wheel drive from Marina PiccolaCAPRI SUVCAPRI SUN
A physician who specializes in treating chest pain caused by reduced blood flow to the heartDR ANGINAORANGINA
Small droplets of morning condensation on a water bubblerFOUNTAIN DEWMOUNTAIN DEW
The number of years that a crocodile-like creature has livedGATOR AGEGATORADE
The noise that the protagonist of Despicable Me would make if he were to imitate a cowGRU MOOTRUMOO
What a eucalyptus-eating marsupial shows at a barKOALA IDKOOLAID
A postal service that uses very small envelopesMINUTE MAILMINUTE MAID
A cephalopod from New EnglandNE SQUIDNESQUIK
A theater script written by the actress who portrayed Nicole Roberts in Danger BayOCEANS PLAYOCEAN SPRAY
A short melody about an egg shapeOVAL TUNEOVALTINE
3.14 of a standard unit of tire pressurePI PSIPEPSI
An expert legumePRO PEAPROPEL
The way Sol gives nonverbal assentSUN NODSUNNYD
A lichen-like plant growing in the AlpsSWISS MOSSSWISS MISS
Genetic material from near the equatorTROPIC DNATROPICANA

We notice that the pictures at the bottom weren’t in any particular order, while these clues are in alphabetical order. If we rearrange the clues to be in the same order as the pictures, and then read the letters from the original drinks which got substituted, we get:

Clue AnswerCorresponding DrinkExtracted Letter
FOUNTAIN DEWMOUNTAIN DEWM
SWISS MOSSSWISS MISSI
PRO PEAPROPELL
KOALA IDKOOL-AIDO
OCEANS PLAYOCEAN SPRAYR
PI PSIPEPSIE
TROPIC DNATROPICANAA
GATOR AGEGATORADED
SUN NODSUNNYDY
GRU MOOTRUMOOT
DR ANGINAORANGINAO
MINUTE MAILMINUTE MAIDD
CANADA DIYCANADA DRYR
OVAL TUNEOVALTINEI
CAPRI SUVCAPRISUNN
NE SQUIDNESQUIKK

The answer is MILO READY TO DRINK!

Author’s Notes

This is the first puzzle that I’ve been the sole author on for a serious puzzle hunt. I went through a lot of iterations, and eventually settled on this mechanic and this set of clues with the help of many editors and test solvers. Many, many thanks to everyone who helped me along the way!